The Lakeside Apartments complex in Jurong East will make way for a new project (Source: Propnex)
The Singapore arm of regional developer Wing Tai has entered the winning bid of S$273.9 million ($199.2 million) for a lakefront residential complex put up for collective sale in the city-state’s Jurong East area, providing further proof of growing builder confidence in the local housing market.
Wing Tai plans to redevelop the 12,465 square metre (134,172 square foot) site into a residential building with more than 300 units and featuring unobstructed views of the Jurong Lake waterfront and the nearby Chinese and Japanese Gardens, the company said Thursday in a release.
The collective sale tender closed Wednesday afternoon and marked the second attempt by the owners to dispose of the 120-unit Lakeside Apartments, with Wing Tai’s bid coming in at 14 percent above the reserve price of S$240 million.
“The tender was hotly contested due to its attractive location with spectacular views overlooking Jurong Lake Gardens, and its proximity to the Jurong Lake District which is envisioned to be a vibrant regional commercial hub and tourist destination,” said Tracy Goh, head of investment and collective sales at exclusive marketing agent PropNex. “The relatively limited supply of new private residential projects in the Lakeside area further boosted the appeal of this collective sale site, with developers anticipating healthy future demand for homes to be built on the plot.”
Homes in Future Hub
The leasehold site at 9E & 9F Yuan Ching Road, about 15 minutes’ walk from Lakeside MRT station on the East-West Line, has 54 years remaining on its 99-year land tenure. Lakeside Apartments can be redeveloped into a 24-storey building with 307 units averaging 915 square feet (85 square metres) each, according to PropNex.
Wing Tai Holdings executive director Tan Hwee Bin
If the acquisition is approved by the Strata Titles Board and the Land Dealings Approval Unit of the Singapore Land Authority, Wing Tai will pay roughly S$10,463 ($7,608) per square metre for the site’s 26,177 square metres of potential built area.
Designated as Singapore’s second central business district, the Jurong Lake District in western Singapore will be the focus of development for the next two decades as the government prioritises the sale of sites there, according to the Singapore Tourism Board.
Plans call for transforming the district with an integrated transport hub for existing and future rail lines and a comprehensive bus network linking to surrounding estates. The transport hub, to be completed within the next six years, will complement the area’s ready access to the Ayer Rajah Expressway and the Pan Island Expressway.
Tan Hwee Bin, executive director of Wing Tai Holdings, voiced confidence in strong buyer demand for the company’s upcoming project, citing the limited supply of new residential developments in the area.
“We are excited to be part of the Jurong Lake District transformation and look forward to building an iconic development which caters to the modern lifestyle needs of homebuyers,” Tan said.
Collective Sales Climb
Total private residential collective sales this year have reached S$2.1 billion, already nearing 2021’s full-year tally of S$2.2 billion, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
Wong Xian Yang, the agency’s head of research for Singapore, said the Lakeside Apartments sale shows that developers remain sanguine on the medium-term outlook of the private residential market and are still keen to acquire land despite the government’s recent cooling measures and the challenge of higher interest rates and construction costs.
“Developers are confident that buyers would be able to absorb higher private residential prices even as interest rates rise and construction costs go up,” Wong told Mingtiandi.
As examples of resilient buyer demand, Wong pointed to CDL and Hongkong Land’s Piccadilly Grand near Little India and Bukit Sembawang’s Liv @ MB in Mountbatten, two residential projects that sold more than 75 percent of their units at launch this month.
Galven Tan, deputy managing director for investment sales and capital markets at Savills Singapore, said the successful launches would give developers confidence to evaluate and acquire residential sites as their low inventory of units spurs them to replenish their landbank.
“Demand for residential apartments remains strong as property is accepted as a hedge against the growing inflation,” Tan said.
Leave a Reply